In general, an automobile door is formed by joining a door outer panel and door inner panel to each other. An opening portion is formed in the door inner panel. The opening portion is covered by a carrier plate which supports accessories (door function components).
More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, an opening portion 82 of an inner panel 81 is covered by a resin-made carrier plate 83. The vehicle compartment side of the carrier plate 83 is covered by a trim plate 84 to improve the design.
Conventionally, the trim plate 84 described above is integrally formed with an upper trim portion 84a which covers a belt portion 81b of the inner panel 81, a trim main body portion 84c integrally molded with an armrest portion 84b, and a pocket portion 84d which forms a door pocket, that are connected to each other. A wood board 85 is disposed on the rear surface side of the upper trim portion 84a. A cloth portion 86 (so-called fabric portion) is formed on the vehicle compartment side between the lower end of the upper trim portion 84a and the upper end of the armrest portion 84b in order to ensure good design.
More specifically, the conventional trim plate 84 has a so-called full-trim structure that largely covers from the upper end of the belt portion 81b of the inner panel 81 to the lower end of the carrier plate 83 entirely. Since an expensive decorative laminated sheet is used to form the trim plate 84, cost reduction suffers. Also, the trim plate 84 itself is comparatively large, and it accordingly has poor moldability.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-318532 proposes a door module structure in which a door inner panel is made of a synthetic resin or light alloy and a carrier plate is integrally formed with the door inner panel.
In the door module structure disclosed in this prior art reference, a trim plate has a so-called full-trim structure that largely covers from the upper end of the belt portion of the inner panel to the lower end of the carrier plate entirely. Thus, this structure has the same problems as those of the prior art shown in FIGS. 38 and 39.
As described above, accessories such as a loudspeaker and window regulator are attached to and supported by the carrier plate. If a regulator rail for the window regulator is built on the carrier plate in advance before the carrier plate is attached to the open edge of the opening portion of the inner panel, the carrier plate is built by inserting the window regulator rail into the inner space of the door through the opening portion of the inner panel. The gap in the vehicle widthwise direction between the upper end of the window regulator rail and the upper end of the carrier plate is very small. In building up the carrier plate by insertion, the upper end of the window regulator rail interferes with the open edge of the opening portion of the inner panel. Thus, it is difficult to ensure smooth build-up performance.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-348556 discloses the following structure for the purpose of simplifying assembly of an automobile door. An insertion hole is formed in the lower portion of a door main body formed by bonding an outer panel and inner panel. A window glass panel is supported by a base including a wall portion and lid portion through an elevating means. The resultant window glass panel structure is inserted in the insertion hole from below, and is built in the door main body.
The window regulator disclosed in this prior art reference is a so-called X-arm window regulator. This is different from a structure of a type in which a vertically extending window regulator rail is built on a carrier plate in advance and the carrier plate is attached to the opening portion of a door inner panel.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-296717 discloses the following structure. In an automobile door formed by clamping an inner panel with an outer panel and trim plate, the inner panel is integrally formed with a deep-drawn projecting portion that fills a space surrounded by the outer panel and trim plate. The inner panel is integrally formed with a wire guide projecting portion which guides a wire for a wire-type window regulator, a glass panel guide projecting portion which guides a window glass panel that moves vertically, and a base projecting portion to which door function components such as a window regulator, door lock, and loudspeaker are to be mounted. The automobile door disclosed in this prior art reference does not use a carrier plate.
In this manner, none of the prior art references is aimed at smooth building-up of a carrier plate when a window regulator rail is built on the carrier plate in advance and the carrier plate is attached to the opening portion of a door inner panel.